


One Half-Inch

by Iaintnosidekick



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: DarhkAtom, F/M, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-12 23:31:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18456863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iaintnosidekick/pseuds/Iaintnosidekick
Summary: When Nora and Ray have to share a bed for the night, they try to keep it casual. But a lot of tension can build up in only one half-inch.





	One Half-Inch

That bed had to be the most uncomfortable thing Nora had ever been on. Sure she’d technically she’d had to try to fall asleep with far lower quality accommodations, but at least she’d been allowed the decency to do so alone. No, it was not the lumpy mattress that made that bed uncomfortable, but the six foot two man next to her. 

“I can take the floor,” Ray had suggested upon seeing the single poor excuse for a queen-sized bed shoved into their absurdly undersized motel room.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she had snapped back amazed he even thought that was possible. “There is maybe five square feet of open space.”

“I can squeeze.”

Nora rolled her eyes up to look at him. He was flashing that trademark Ray Palmer smile down at her which made it even more impossible to take him up on his offer. He’d do it, she knew he was serious, but that was exactly why she couldn’t do it to him. He was too good. Way too good to allow him to spend the night crunched up on the dirty Technicolor carpet. 

But that didn’t make lying in the same bed together any less of a discomfort. They were both on their backs, stiff as boards in a constant effort to maintain the single half inch between them. It wasn’t much, Nora could still feel the soft warmth he gave off through the starchy sheets, but it was all they could do to keep the tension at bay. Because there was tension. The type that of undeniable tension that made two people in the same bed staring up at a stained ceiling, trying to trick themselves into believing they didn’t have to address it. 

“Do you have enough blanket?” he asked up into the air. 

The lights were off, but Nora could still see him out of the corner of her eye. Like everything else, the curtains are extremely cheap and did little to nothing to prevent the street light outside from pouring in on top of them. He shifted slightly as he asked her the casual question, but his eyes never left that ever interesting ceiling. 

“Yeah,” she found herself saying with a too fast bob of her head. She shifted her weight too, trying to loosen up even a little. But there wasn’t much to be done when they both had to be mindful of the gap. “Yeah, I have enough.”

“Good,” he kind of sighed. “That’s good….” 

It was maidenly quiet. The AC was, of course, busted, but it was the lack of white noise that was going to drive Nora crazy. Without it, she could hear everything from her own nervous noises as she chewed on her lip to how Ray would ball the edge of the blanket in his fist, flatten it out, and do it again in an anxious rhythm. Even their breathing was painfully audible against the empty space that was their 70’s inspired birdcage. Nora needed something, anything, to just break the thick silence. 

“Do you want me to scoot over more?” was the first thing she thought to ask, even though there really was no more room to scoot over to.

“Nah,” he replied a little too quickly. “I actually find the limited space to be pretty comforting.”

They made sure to laugh away from each other. It was the kind of nervous laughter that can only come out of situations like these and while it did alleviate some tension for a little bit, that moment was gone far too quickly. They almost immediately fell back into the heavy silence that was starting to feel crushing on Nora’s chest. Desperate for anything to focus on, Nora realized she could both hear and feel Ray breath. The blanket would rise when he took slow, death breaths and it would fall just as easily when he exhaled. Unlike the balling of his hands, his breathing pattern fluctuated as if he was working through his thoughts. For a while, he’d settle into an even pace before suddenly inhale and hold it for a disconcerting couple of seconds. She could only imagine the frantic thoughts weaving in and out of his head, and knew he was probably trying to talk himself into believing that this was actually going to work. 

“Hey Nora?” he suddenly asked as if he didn’t already hold her entire attention. 

“Yeah?”

“Are you scared?”

Startled, Nora looked up at him. He was keeping his eyes glued to the ceiling, but she could see his eyebrows had bent down like they do when he was thinking too hard. 

“No, are you?”

“A little,” he admitted rather quickly. Both of his hands balled up the top of the coarse blanket but this time instead of flattening it out again, he just kept gathering more fabric as he spoke. “This demon stuff isn’t exactly something I really know how to deal with. Which of course means, I’m worried when the time comes, I won’t really be able to help you, or anyone. So that’s… kind of scary.” 

He turned to look at her for that last bit. His features had softened, but she could still see the worry in his eyes. Not worry for him—like any sensible person being hunted by a demon and the Bureau of time agents it had co-opted—but worry for others. Specifically, worry for her and worry he wouldn’t be able to help her. 

“You’ve already helped me so much,” she assured him, thinking back on the past few days along. “You trusted me, you believed in me. Even when no one else did.”

“I know,” he interjected, suddenly unable to hold her gaze, “but that’s not going to help when a demon comes knocking down our door and tries to….”

Nora frowned. She wondered if this was really what went on inside his head. Sure, he was legitimately optimistic and a real caring person, but she’d always wondered if he also used those traits as a kind way to avoid what he was really feeling. She knew she did. Except she had chosen to project something harsh, while Ray chose to produce something good. 

Feeling a fleeting rush of boldness, and desire to keep him from spiraling too far down his fear, she rolled onto her side to face him. 

“When you gave me my father’s time stone the second time, you told me all you didn’t care if your friends knew you had done it, all you cared about was me being free,” she began, careful to keep her tone even. “While a sweet gesture, it made me realized not only that I had to face my past to be free, but that the only reason I was brave enough to do that, was because, despite everything, you believed I could be a good person.” 

“I mean you are a good person,” he mostly muttered with a shrug of his shoulders. “You were just manipulated into being a demon vessel so all you really needed was a little support and a nudge in the right direction….”

“Even so….” She smiled. Her pause finally got him to look her in the eye and she made herself hold his gaze. “It was that belief that has helped me through being alone in a cell, and it will help me through this. So, you don’t have to be scared you’re not helping.” 

He stopped breathing. She’d been, admittedly, more honest with him than he was used to, which was kind of the point. She felt she owed him some kind of reassurance after all the unconditional support he’d given her. Maybe she was being indulgent to the tension still drifting between them, but it was worth it. Because after he had recovered, the worry lines of his face morphed into something far more flustered. 

“I know- I know that,” he stumbled. Even in the dark, she could see his cheeks redden and she really wished she would see his whole face. He must have heard her thoughts because he then rolled over to face her. He’d lost the ability to look at her again, but the extra half inch of room allowed her to watch his hands to do the things they do when he’s can’t form proper sentences. “I just, I mean I know you’re not a damsel or anything, but I mean he’s a demon and they’re the entire Time Bureau. They’re real threats- real threats that are coming after us specifically. So, you know, I just wish I my help could be a little less… abstract.” 

“I could teach you some spells,” she suggested smiling like an idiot and only partially kidding. “Potion making is a bit like chemistry right?”

That managed to get him to stop rambling and even got a real laugh to bubble up out of him. As he tried to maintain his giggles, his face broke out into a wide smile that officially chased away the rest of his nervous energy. It also kicked up a bit of warmth in Nora’s chest. She was genuinely happy to see finally see him relax. She was so happy in fact, that she only then realized that their inch divide was nearly gone. 

He was so close. Close enough to spell the motel shampoo dripping off of his slightly damp hair. Close enough to feel the rush of his breath get deeper as they grew silent again. Close enough that she knew exactly when he too realized just how badly they were leaning into each. She could hear his breathing and she could feel his attention drift down to her lips. Their attentions were completely transfixed on each other and it was completely intoxicating. Something so strong and so real, that Nora couldn’t help but try to back away from it. 

“Can I ask you a question?” she asked at barely a whisper. 

“Hmm?” he told her, his voice dangerously low. 

“How did you know I didn’t kill Hank?”

He paused, no doubt aware of her hesitance. That’s how it always worked between them. Ray would do something to make her heart flutter, and she’d back away saying there was no way a guy like him would want anything to do with her. If she was honest with herself, she knew Ray had had feelings for her after he had given her the time stone the first time. It only became more undeniable after he had literally mailed himself to her, but on her most cynical day, she could manage to dismiss it as pity. But now there was no overlooking it. If his heart was usually on his sleeve, in that bed he had is plastered on his face. Even so, he still let her pull it back a little. If just to hold onto her feelings for a little longer. 

“I didn’t really,” he admitted. “I mean, the evidence was pretty damning—no pun intended—but even if it didn’t make any logical sense, I knew you couldn’t have done it. You were working to be better, you made a couple of friends and you’re also not a murderer. So you couldn’t have killed Hank in some type of escape attempt. There was just… no way.” 

All Nora could do was look at him in stunned silence. This man, this six-foot lanky ball of fluff was too good for this earth. Too good for the Star City, too good for the Legends and definitely too good for her. Even if he believed her, even if he loved her, there was no way she was ever going to deserve his affections. He deserved better.

“I don’t deserve you,” she whispered quietly finally admitting to both him and herself what she’d been feeling this whole time, “You deserve someone much better than me. Someone good like you.” 

“Well maybe you that is what you think now,” he told her, daring to wait until she would meet his eye, “But hopefully one day, you’ll change your mind.” 

That’s when she knew, she had to kiss him. Not because of the tension, not because it was inevitable, but because he believed in them. He was willing to wait, maybe forever, until she was ready which made her want to believe in them too. And so she began to lean in, slowly. Trying to give him all the chance in the world to stop her. But he didn’t. He let her first brush her lips against his, and then press a gentle kiss on them. At first, her blood was pumping so hard she forgot what she was supposed to do next. The world was spinning and everything felt like it would disappear if she even dared to move another inch. But it didn’t. Instead, after a gentle moment, Ray kissed her back. 

The tension came crashing down like a tsunami. Suddenly the inches left between them where unbearable and they had to bridge the gap as quickly as they could. It didn’t take Ray too long to overcome the initial shock of it all. His arms were already reaching out and trying to help her get closer to him. One arm found its home reaching around her waist and providing a steady hold on her back as she pressed up into him. The other hand had reached up and gently cupped her cheek inside of its soft palm. He was so warm, and his arms were comforting in a way Nora could never have even imagined. The rush of it all was overwhelming and she barely realized her own hands had found their way to the back of his neck, her fingers curling up into his dark locks. It was a lot, but thankfully Ray knew when to pause so they could catch their breaths. 

“Wow,” he exhaled looking at her with a bewildered smile. “And I was just going to tell you that I liked you” 

Nora let out probably the goofiest laugh she’d ever produced. “You are way too good, Ray Palmer,” she jabbed back unable to keep herself from leaning into his touch. 

“I try,” he laughed before kissing her again. 

At that moment, nothing else mattered. Her past, the demon hunting them, the Time Bureau, none of it. Just Ray Palmer and Nora Darhk finally being honest with each other. Well, Ray had always been honest. Nora just had to let go of her own hang-ups to let them have their moment. Their moment of pure honesty, in a motel, on a bed that was probably still too small for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooooooo DarhkAtom Fandom! My name is May, I have a Tumblr (@iaintnosidekick) and I've decided to sell my soul to this ship. Let me know if you need to fan out and if you have any fic suggestions because who knows ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe it'll spark something. I hope you liked this, I hope my spelling wasn't too atrocious, and I truly hope you enjoyed <3


End file.
